"The Rice Portait of Jane Austin" by British painter Ozias Humphry
© AFP/File Stan Honda

NEW YORK (AFP) - The painting, which depicts a young woman in a full-length white dress holding a green parasol, failed to reach its reserve price, Christie's auction house said. It had been expected to fetch between 400,000 and 800,000 dollars. The so-called Rice Portrait, described by Christie's as one of the world's most intriguing literary portraits, was believed to have been painted by British painter Ozias Humphry and is owned by Austen's direct descendants.

The controversy over the portrait goes back to the 1940s, when leading Austen scholar R.W. Chapman said that the fashions in the picture dated from 1805 or later, and not from the late 1780s, when it was supposedly painted.

Another debate has focused on the supplier's stamp on the reverse of the original canvas. Detractors say the merchant's mark does not fit with the period, while Christie's disputed both arguments.

"On the basis of its provenance, authorship and acceptance from within her own family from as early as 1817 (the year of Austen's death), the Rice Portrait has substantial and credible claim to be accepted as the only portrait painted in oils by a professional artist of Jane Austen," it said.

Austen, who is considered one of England's most accomplished writers, is best known for novels including Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Emma and Persuasion.

©AFP